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Elementalist
Rather than drawing power from bestial aspects, elementalist shifters channel power from the Inner Sphere and can take on powerful elemental forms at the cost of the greater diversity available to traditional shifters. Although the elementalist shifter’s powers seem more outlandish and supernatural than those of others of their kind, they remain equally immersed in the druidic traditions; their focus is simply rooted in expressions of nature found in extraplanar regions: the planes of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. Abilities Elemental Aspect (Su) At 1st level, an elementalist shifter chooses one elemental aspect rather than a shifter aspect. This ability otherwise functions as shifter aspect. As the elementalist shifter gains levels, she gains more elemental aspects: a second aspect at 5th level, a third at 10th, and a fourth at 15th. This alters shifter aspect. Elemental Strike (Su) At 1st level, as a swift action, an elementalist shifter can charge her melee attacks with elemental energy. The elementalist shifter can charge her attacks only with an element she has chosen with elemental aspect. Once charged, each melee attack the elementalist shifter makes until the start of her next turn deals an additional 1d6 points of energy damage based on the element she chooses when taking this action (see Elemental Aspects). This additional damage increases by 1d6 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter, to a maximum of 6d6 points of energy damage at 20th level. An elementalist shifter can’t use elemental strike while under a polymorph effect. This replaces shifter claws. Omnielementalist (Su) At 9th level, an elementalist shifter can fuse two elemental forms together, gaining combined powers of the different aspects and manifesting them in ways that bring to mind powerful natural weather phenomena. When the elementalist shifter takes on one minor form each from two of her elemental aspects, she gains an additional ability as long as she maintains the form. The effects of the abilities depend on the elemental combination, as detailed below. * Ash Storm (Su): By combining air and fire, the elementalist shifter surrounds herself with a storm of swirling ash, granting her a 20% miss chance against ranged attacks. * Downpour (Su): The elementalist shifter combines the powers of air and water to generate a torrential downpour in her square and squares adjacent to her. This rain automatically extinguishes all non-magical fires in her square and squares adjacent to her (including flames on creatures that have caught on fire). It also has a chance to extinguish ongoing magical fire (but not instantaneous magical fire effects such as fireball) within or that enters the area, as if the elementalist shifter had cast dispel, using her elementalist shifter level as her caster level for the effect. * Mudslide (Su): Combining the elements of earth and water causes the elementalist shifter to generate an aura of mud. This mud extends out to all squares adjacent to her and counts as difficult terrain; it moves with her and vanishes when she ends her elemental aspect. * Sandstorm (Su): Combining the high winds of air and fine particulates of earth produces a sandstorm that extends out to a radius of 20 feet from the elementalist shifter. All light levels in the area diminish by one step, and creatures caught in the effect take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage each round they remain within the sandstorm. * Steam Cloud (Su): When the elementalist shifter enters a minor form of fire and water at the same time, the heat of fire and moisture of water generate an explosive area of steam around her out to a radius of 20 feet as per obscuring mist. The mist remains in place until she ends her elemental aspect; it doesn’t move with her. * Volcanic Stride (Su): By combining earth and fire, the elementalist shifter can damage the ground around herself. As a standard action, she can deform a region of natural or artificial rock in her space, turning it into difficult terrain and causing creatures that pass through it to take an amount of fire damage equal to that dealt by her elemental strike with no save. Affected terrain remains transformed until the shifterends her elemental aspect. This replaces chimeric aspect and greater chimeric aspect. Elemental Aspects Elementalist shifters do not infuse their bodies with bestial qualities taken from animal aspects. Rather, they take into themselves raw elemental power from the planes of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. The following aspects are used by the elementalist shifter archetype; they cannot be selected as aspects by other shifters. Air You take on the power of an air elemental, gaining the ability to fly and to control powerful gusts of wind. You take inspiration from the patterns of clouds in the sky, the tumultuous fury of the storm, and the gentle caress of a cooling breeze. Flying creatures, such as bats and birds, are your favorites. Spring is your favored season—a time when storms bring freshness to the world but that lacks the brutality of winter’s devastation. Minor Form: You gain a +2 enhancement bonus to your Dexterity score. This bonus increases to +4 at 8th level and to +6 at 15th level. Major Form: Your shape changes to that of a Medium air elemental. While you are in this form, you gain a fly speed of 60 feet (average maneuverability) and airborne creatures take a –1 penalty on attack and damage rolls against you. At 8th level, your fly speed increases to 100 feet (perfect) and you gain the whirlwind special ability (see below). At 15th level, you gain Improved Natural Attack with your slam. Whirlwind (Su) You can transform yourself into a whirlwind as a standard action for 1 round per 2 shifter levels you have. This otherwise functions as per the whirlwind universal monster rule. Earth You take on the power of an earth elemental, gaining the ability to burrow through the earth and deliver powerful blows. You take comfort in caverns, mountainous regions, and areas rent by canyons and chasms, and you feel a deep kinship to burrowing animals of all types. Be it the soothing feel of fresh topsoil or the devastating fury of an earthquake, you understand the raw power of earth. Your favored season is fall—the traditional time of the harvest, when bounty from the earth is offered. Minor Form: You gain a +2 enhancement bonus to your Constitution score. This bonus increases to +4 at 8th level and to +6 at 15th level. Major Form: Your shape changes to that of a Medium earth elemental. While you are in this form, your base speed is reduced to 20 feet, but you gain a burrow speed of 10 feet, and you gain a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls if both you and your target are touching the ground. If the target is airborne or waterborne, you take a –4 penalty on attack and damage rolls against it. These modifiers also apply to bull rush and overrun combat maneuvers, whether you are initiating or resisting these kinds of attacks. At 8th level, your burrow speed increases to 20 feet and you gain earth glide as per the universal monster rule. At 15th level, you gain Improved Natural Attack with your slam. Fire You take on the power of a fire elemental, becoming a being of living flame that can burn enemies and move with great speed. You enjoy regions where precipitation rarely intrudes, such as desert landscapes and dry savannas, but the slopes of volcanoes hold the greatest majesty to you. You enjoy the companionship of swiftly moving creatures and those who enjoy basking in the sun, for you empathize with their appreciation of the daytime’s warmth. Forest fires are things of beauty to you, yet you respect fire and would never think to wantonly inflict it upon the natural world. Summer is your favorite season, for this is a time of heat waves and blistering sunny days. Minor Form: You gain a +2 enhancement bonus to your Dexterity score. This bonus increases to +4 at 8th level and to +6 at 15th level. Major Form: Your shape changes to that of a Medium fire elemental. While you are in this form, your base speed changes to 50 feet and you gain immunity to fire, vulnerability to cold, and the burn special attack as per the universal monster rule, dealing damage equal to your slam attack whenever a creature fails its Reflex save against that ability. At 8th level, you gain Improved Natural Attack with your slam. At 15th level, you deal fire damage equal to double your slam damage against opponents that fail their saves against your burn ability. Water You take on the power of a water elemental, gaining the ability to move swiftly in water, rain down crashing blows on your enemies, and transform into a swirling vortex. You identify with aquatic animals of all types, be they water-breathing creatures such as fish, amphibians such as newts or frogs, or air-breathing mammals such as whales or walruses. The unrelenting churn of waves on the shoreline, the soothing babble of a gentle stream, and the pounding kiss of a deluge of rain all bring joy to your heart. Your favored season is winter, for it is at this time that the most powerful of storms bring water to all the world. Minor Form: You gain a +2 enhancement bonus to your Strength score. This bonus increases to +4 at 8th level and to +6 at 15th level. Major Form: Your shape changes to that of a Medium water elemental. While you are in this form, your base speed is reduced to 20 feet but you gain a swim speed of 60 feet, and if both you and your target are touching water, you also gain a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls. If the target is touching the ground, you take a –4 penalty on attack and damage rolls against it. These modifiers apply to bull rush and overrun combat maneuvers, whether you are initiating or resisting these kinds of attacks. At 8th level, your swim speed increases to 90 feet, your touch automatically extinguishes non-magical flames of size Large or smaller, and you can dispel magical fires as per dispel magic using your shifter level as your effective caster level. At 15th level, you gain Improved Natural Attack with your slam and the vortex special ability, which functions identically to the air aspect’s whirlwind ability but can form only underwater and cannot leave the water. Category:Archetypes